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legion. A cement plant doesn't look anything like a coal mine.
An alumina refinery looks more like a chemistry set than a
coal mine. An underground zinc mine doesn't have much in
common with a coal mine.
Methane isn't a concern in most metal/nonmetal mines. To be
sure, there are gassy nonmetal mines, but those mines (e.g.
salt) aren't extracting combustible material and don't usually
liberate nearly as much methane as a coal mine. The dust in
metal/nonmetal mines isn't combustible.
The operators of these mines don't need MSHA's approval for
much of anything that they do. Ground control and ventila-
tion decisions are made by the operators. MSHA enforces the
Act and its metal/nonmetal regulations at these mines, but it
doesn't have anything like the plan approval authority that it
has in coal. I've just scratched the surface here in describing
how metal/nonmetal differs from coal.
Differences
These differences really matter when it comes to MSHA
enforcement. Now, I am not saying that an MSHA inspector
with coal mining experience can't inspect a metal/nonmetal
mine. And, I'm certainly not saying that coal mining experi-
ence isn't valuable. No doubt, a good inspector who has a lot of
coal experience but no real experience working in or inspect-
ing a metal/nonmetal mine may be capable of performing an
effective inspection with time, training and supervision. And,
there are a lot of good inspectors out there.
What I am saying is that it takes a lot of effort to convert a
coal inspectors to inspect metal/nonmetal mines. If MSHA
wants a coal inspector to effectively and efficiently inspect a
metal/nonmetal mine, the inspector will need time, training
and supervision. I don't think that the training MSHA has pro-
vided to the coal inspectors that have converted to metal/
nonmetal has been effective. A two-week crash course at the
Mine Academy isn't going to cut it.
I don't know how the leadership at MSHA sees this. MSHA's
leadership is heavy on coal experience and light on metal/
nonmetal. That's not unusual. The current head of MSHA
might be the most experienced person to serve as assistant
secretary; he has more than four decades of mining experi-
ence, almost all of it in coal. By my count, Zatezalo is the 10th
person to hold the position since it was created in 1978. I
think all 10 had experience in coal, in government service or
had previously worked for the United Mine Workers.
What I do know is that Zatezalo and others in Arlington
have demonstrated that they are willing to actually listen
to stakeholders. They want to hear from stakeholders
and make smart, well-informed decisions. If MSHA plans
to use more coal inspectors to inspect metal/nonmetal
mines or otherwise blur the lines between coal and metal/
nonmetal, the leadership in Arlington needs to hear from
operators who have dealt with the problems created by
coal inspectors who weren't properly trained to inspect a
metal/nonmetal mine.